


look how far we've come, my baby

by mikaylawrites



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode: s07e22 Tomorrow, F/M, Fluff, Post-Series, technically a post-episode for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28937994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikaylawrites/pseuds/mikaylawrites
Summary: "...and for a moment that’s all he can say because Donna’s sitting behind an impressive mahogany desk in her skirt suit and a teal blouse that makes her eyes look impossibly blue and he thinks his heart might explode because he’s never in his life loved anyone as much as he loves her right now."Josh goes to see Donna's new office.
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 4
Kudos: 83





	look how far we've come, my baby

**Author's Note:**

> Donna seeing her new office for the first time is one of my favorite moments of the entire series, so of course I had to write something for it. Title is from Shania Twain's "You're Still The One."

Josh isn’t sure which is more restorative, getting more than two hours of uninterrupted sleep or waking up with Donna pressed against him. Both are good, sure, but when Donna snuffles softly in her sleep and snuggles closer to him, he thinks he could probably stay awake for the rest of his life if he could only have this. 

He cranes his neck to glance at the clock and sees that it’s still early. The inaugural balls kept them out until the early hours of the morning, and so the president and First Lady had ordered both their staffs to sleep in a little before starting their first full day in office. Josh considers going back to sleep, but he feels the same fizzing excitement in his stomach that he used to get before the first day of school; trying to shut his brain off is a lost cause. Instead, he settles for relaxing back into the mattress and feeling the steady rise and fall of Donna’s chest against his. He slips his hand under the Mets t-shirt she stole from his side of the closet and strokes her warm skin. 

It’s not long before Donna starts to stir, fidgeting in his embrace. She pops one eye open, then the other, scrunching her nose against the light that’s starting to filter through the curtains. Josh bites back a laugh. “Go back to sleep,” he whispers. “It’s not time to get up yet,” 

“Can’t,” she mutters, “I’m too excited.”

Josh can’t help but laugh then, because this really is the woman of his dreams. She stretches, her arms above her head and her whole body tensing against his. He doesn’t miss the slight wince that crosses her face. “Your leg bothering you?” he asks.

Donna pauses, seeming to contemplate her answer, before smiling shyly. “It’s a little stiff. All that dancing, I guess.”

“I should’ve taken it easy on you,” he says, automatically pulling her right leg toward him under the covers. “Not everyone can handle these moves.”

She snorts. “You’re a regular Fred Astaire.”

In lieu of a response, he digs his thumbs into the tight muscles of her upper thigh and starts kneading. She melts even further into him and he uses the opportunity to press his lips to her forehead. 

“Y’know, out of all the inaugural balls we’ve been to, all nine of last night’s made my top ten,” he tells her. 

She tilts her head to look at him. “Which other one is on the list?”

“2003, the eighth. I had you all to myself for three whole songs.” He thinks back to that night, the heady thrill of holding Donna in his arms, never dreaming he would get to hold her the way he is now. 

“I liked the seventh, when we snuck back to your office to order real food,” Donna muses, gazing warmly at him and running her nails across his bare chest, “although, I think my favorite part of the night was when you showed up at my apartment and woke up all my neighbors with your yelling.”

“I think you’re forgetting the part where I - in what can only be described as an epic display of romanticism - threw snowballs at your window and invited you to not just one, but eight balls.”

“It might have been a little more romantic if you had, you know, actually kissed me.” He feigns indignance and she laughs, patting his chest. “It’s okay honey, you’ve always been a bit obtuse.”

“So it took me a few more years after that to pull my head out of my ass,” he says, squeezing her thigh. “I think we can both agree I’ve got the kissing part down now.”

“Uh huh,” she deadpans, purposely goading him. They stare each other down, letting the moment thicken until finally Josh closes the gap between them. He kisses her insistently and a little sloppily, sliding a hand up her body to tangle in her hair. Donna sighs against his lips, shifting until she’s practically on top of him. He’s pleased to see that she’s flushed and breathless when they break apart. 

“Who’s obtuse now?” he asks, unable to keep himself from smirking.

“Hmm, still you.” She settles her head back onto his chest, grabbing his hand and stroking his knuckles with her thumb. In the quiet of their bedroom, he can almost hear her thinking. “It’s going to be weird today, being on opposite sides of the building.” 

“Yeah,” he agrees, because though it’s been over a year since either of them worked there, it’s still hard to imagine the west wing without Donna in it. “But maybe we could have lunch? I can pick something up and come see your new office.”

She perks up at that. “Lunch would be nice. Get me the usual from that place with the good sourdough?”

“It’s a date.”

* * *

By lunchtime, Josh is already behind schedule. He has to ask one of the new interns to pick up food from Donna’s favorite cafe, and he practically runs across the building to the east wing once he has their sandwiches in hand. It occurs to him, as he bursts into the office suite, that he doesn’t know which office is Donna’s. He spins in an awkward semi-circle until his eyes land on an unfamiliar woman behind a desk who must have seen the entire spectacle of his confusion.

“Mr. Lyman?” she asks kindly, having the good grace not to laugh at him. Josh nods. “You can go right in,” she tells him, motioning to the door down the corridor behind her. “She’s expecting you.” 

“Uh, thanks,” he responds, a little flustered. He walks toward Donna’s office and pauses, momentarily unsure, before lifting a fist and knocking on the door. 

“Come in.” 

Donna looks up from her computer when he steps into her office. “Hey you.”

“Hi,” he responds, and for a moment that’s all he can say because Donna’s sitting behind an impressive mahogany desk in her skirt suit and a teal blouse that makes her eyes look impossibly blue and he thinks his heart might explode because he’s never in his life loved anyone as much as he loves her right now. 

“What do you think?” she asks, bringing him back to the earth. It’s then that he takes in the rest of the office. 

“Wow, Donna, this is -”

“Huge, right? I mean there’s no way I need this much space.”

“I was going to say perfect.” He walks toward the desk, setting down their takeout. “You’ve got all this natural light and the fireplace doesn’t even look like it’s welded shut. We might want to look into getting you some different art, but I couldn’t imagine a better office for you.”

“You don’t think it’s too much?”

“What do you mean? Why would it be too much?”

“I don’t know I just…” she laughs nervously, and he thinks he should have asked her about this sooner. “I never imagined this for myself. I don’t even have a bachelor’s degree and don’t get me wrong, I know I’ve been good at my previous jobs, but I can’t help but feel a little out of my depth here.”

Josh drops into one of the chairs opposite hers, reaching for her hands across the desk. “Do you really think that?” he asks. 

She shrugs, not quite meeting his eyes. “I know, it’s silly.”

“It’s not silly, but it’s not true either.” He tugs on their joined hands, getting her to look at him. “You’re going to be great at this just like you’ve been great at everything you’ve done since you barged into the Manchester office and hired yourself.” She cracks a smile at that, rolling her eyes. “Seriously Donna, out of your depth is where you thrive. You’re the fastest learner I’ve ever met and you’re amazing under pressure, not to mention smarter than half of Congress. The First Lady is lucky to have you.”

She’s beaming at him in earnest now, that beautiful, luminous smile, and he gets a flash of the woman he met nine years ago. She had asked him that day why Bartlett’s campaign couldn’t be a place for people to start over. What he hadn’t realized then, what it’s taken him far too long to fully appreciate, is that she would change his life too.

“I love you,” he tells her, still a little amazed at how easily those words can roll off his tongue. “And I love that we get to do this together.”

“‘This’ as in being Chiefs of Staff? Or ‘this’ as in this?” She raises their joined hands, squeezing lightly. 

He brings their hands to him, pressing his lips to her knuckles. “Both.”

“I love this too,” she agrees and then they’re leaning, reaching across the desk for each other. Their kiss is slow and gentle, kept chaste by the desk between them. Josh is mindful that the last thing that would bolster Donna’s professional confidence is to get caught making out in her office by the First Lady, so he pulls away much sooner than he would have liked. They grin at each other like idiots for a long, warm moment until he regretfully drops her hands to reach into the takeout bag and pull out their lunch. He hands over her sandwich first before grabbing his own. 

“This office is amazing, isn’t it?” Donna asks as he distributes the napkins.

“Incredible,” he agrees, “but I think it’s missing that lived in quality.” He spreads his palms on the desk in front of him, pushing down and pretending to test its sturdiness. “This desk definitely needs breaking in. And that table too, while we’re at it.”

“I’m getting a couch next week,” she grins. 

“Oh God,” he groans, “I think this just became my new favorite room in the White House.”

“What about your office?” she asks, taking a bite of her sandwich. “There’s a lot of surfaces in there that could use some love.”

“See, this is exactly the kind of ingenuity and drive I’m talking about. You’re a genius.”

“And here I thought you only liked me for my body.”

“Oh no, Donatella,” Josh says, brushing his pinky against hers when she reaches for a fry. “You’re the whole package.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
